Let's talk about books in our Sunday Salon

Sketchy Stories ~ by Kerby Rosanes, 2016, art, 128 pages, 7/10

Yesterday was International Artist Day, which I learned late in the day.  So I looked around for any art books I have that I haven't written about and found this.  It wasn't my favorite book, but I enjoyed looking through it (though I'd rather have been doing my own sketching).

1. In my Monday Musing post, I was thinking about a big, heavy book of Monet's art, HERE.
2. My subject on TWOsday included two very long books, HERE.
3. Friday's Book Beginning was about a recent Oprah Book Club choice, HERE.
4. On Saturday, I wrote about my Chinese friend's birthday cake, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Chinese birthday cake

This is my Chinese friend's beautiful birthday

cake, still in its box.  It looks delicious, doesn't it?

Beginning ~ with an old house

Beginning (in June-July 2004)

A visitor to Charlie Margolis's house in Montana — which really belonged to his parents, who spent their summers there — might not have found it much to look at.  The house was cramped and musty and low ceilinged.  There was beige carpet from the seventies, bric-a-brac on every windowsill, second-hand furniture that smelled incurably of smoke.

Dream State ~ by Eric Puchner, 2025, literary fiction (Montana), 430 pages

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him.  Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task — an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past.  But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future.  And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again?  As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

The events of that summer have long-lasting repercussions, not only on the three friends caught in its shadow but also on their children, who struggle to escape their parents’ story.  Spanning fifty years and set against the backdrop of a rapidly warming Montana, Dream State explores what it means to live with the mistakes of the past — both our own and the ones we’ve inherited.

Written with humor, precision, and enormous heart, both a love letter and an elegy to the American West, Dream State is a thrillingly ambitious ode to the power of friendship, the weird weather of marriage, and the beauty of impermanence.

That description is from the dust jacket of this 2025 Oprah’s Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller.  I just found this copy minutes ago among the books of a Crown Center resident who recently died.  Her executor donated her books to our little library, so I decided to read it.  That's as much as I know about the book so far.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Two more books

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows ~ by Ai Weiwei, translated by Allan H. Barr, 2022, memoir, 400 pages

This memoir tells the history of China over the last hundred years while also illuminating the author'ss artistic process.  Once a close associate of Mao Zedong and the nation’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, was branded a rightist during the Cultural Revolution, and he and his family were banished to a desolate place known as "Little Siberia," where Ai Qing was sentenced to hard labor cleaning public toilets.  Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood in exile, and his difficult decision to leave his family to study art in America, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Andy Warhol and the artworks of Marcel Duchamp.  He gives details of his return to China and his rise from artistic unknown to art world superstar and international human rights activist — and how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime.

Ai Weiwei’s sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe, and his architectural achievements include helping to design the iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing.  His political activism has long made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011.  Here, for the first time, Ai Weiwei explores the origins of his exceptional creativity and passionate political beliefs through his life story and that of his father, whose creativity was stifled.

Ai Weiwei provides a deep understanding of the myriad forces that have shaped modern China and serves as a timely reminder of the urgent need to protect freedom of expression.

The Moral Animal ~ by Robert Wright, 1995, psychology, 496 pages

Are men literally born to cheat?  Does monogamy actually serve women's interests?  These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years.  Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics — as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.

A book of Claude Monet's art

Monet ~ by Janice Anderson, 2003, classical art, 447 pages

Claude Monet, a French painter of the impressionist style, is regarded as the archetypal impressionist.  Just looking at this cover, you can see how I could spend ages musing over the hundreds of color photos in this very heavy big book.

Cat behavior

Decoding Your Cat: The Ultimate Experts Explain Common Cat Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones ~ by American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, 2020, cat training, 368 pages

Every cat owner has wondered why their cat is acting the way it does.  This book likely has the answer.  It provides an in-depth understanding of the underlying reasons for a cat’s problem behavior.  Armed with the science on cat behavior and real-life examples, this book helps cat owners understand why their cats act the way they do and addresses behavior problems.  It gives owners insight on promoting their cat’s physical and psychological health and wellness in order to maintain a good relationship.  It can help you understand how to deal with unwanted behaviors and in general help your cat live a longer and fuller life. 

One person commenting online said, "I liked the clear questions followed by a brief paragraph explaining the behavior."

1. My Tuesday subject was daughters, HERE.
2. My Thursday Thoughts included a dragon, HERE.
3. My Friday book beginning was about smart words, HERE.
4. On Saturday, I wrote about an astronaut stranded on Mars, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A mission to Mars

The Martian ~ by Andy Weir, 2014, science fiction, 387 pages

A mission to Mars.  A freak accident.  One man’s struggle to survive.  Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.  Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.  After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death.  The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.  But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet.  Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next.  Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?